Improvement in harvesters



@Mann STATES PATENT @Erica ,i

ALLEN sHERWooD, 0F AUBURN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN HARVESTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 95,522, dated October 5, 1869.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALLEN SHERWooD, of

' Auburn,in the county of Cayuga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grass-Harvesting Maehlnes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making apartot' this specication, in Whichl Figure l represents a top plan of so much 'of a grass-harvesting machine, as will illustrate my invention. Fig. 2 represents an elevation thereof, with a Wheel remove'dfto better represent the parts otherwise concealed by it. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 represent details of the machine.

Similar letters of reference, where they occur in the several separate figures, denote like parts of the machine in all of the drawings.

This invention relates, irst, to the hinged and swiveling connection, by which the iinger-bar and cutting apparatus is attached to the main frame th rough the coupling-arm; second, it relates to the particular constructionof the pawl-plate and the hub, so' that the former may be putin position on the hub or removed when necessary, said pawl-plate serving as the head of the box containing the spring-pawls and ratchet.

`To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings.

'A A are the main carrying and driving wheels, arranged on the axle B so as to be fast and loose thereon under certain circumstances, and as is common in harvesting-machines. Upon the axle B is balanced and secured 'the gear-box C, which, besides inclosing the driving-gear, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. l, is also the main frame of the machine, said box, case, or main frame being hung to the axle B by the hollow trunnions, sleeves, or bosses D D cast on said box, through which the axle passes. The (top ot' the box or case is hinged to the under portion, as at a a, so as to give access to the gearing therein for oiling,repairs, duc. A long hollow boss, E, is cast or madeon the box or case for the shaft of the crank-wheel b to pass through and turn in; and underneath this long boss E there-are cast two lugs, c c, to which a shield or protector, F, is hinged by a pivot at d, said shield or protector, in addition to itsprotection of the crank-wheel b, serving as a support for the swivel-shank e of the couplingarm Gr, so that said coupling-arm, while capable of rocking or rolling in the piece F, has also a motion with the piece F on its pivot- I pin d, said two mot-ions being at nearly right` angles to each other.. l

The inner shoe H, which carries the fingerbar and cutting apparatus .and the several appliances used in connection with the cutting apparatus, is hinged to the coupling bar or arm G by the lugsffand g g, respectively,

on each, through which the pivot-pins. h l1.'

pass, and ou the coupling-arm is cast a lug, i, int'o which the point j of the raising, lowering, or holding lever I takes for raising, lowering, or holding the cutting apparatus in any desired position, it having a spring lockinglever, k, connected Withit, which takesinto one of the notches of the keeper fm pendent from the frame, 'and ou which keeper the lever I is adjustable by a slot and set-screw, as at a.

The clutch or lratchet and pawl boxes are made and connected with the axle and Wheels The ratch portion J is secured to as follows: the axle B, and the paWl-plate K is secured to the heel of the hub of the wheel by means ot' recesses l 1 l, Ste., cast or made in the hub, and corresponding projections 2 2 2, &c., cast or wrought upon the pawl-plate K, so that The drivers seat L is secured to the rear of the box-frame U by a support passing partially around the rear o1" the box and secured at q,

and by a strap, r, passing around said support horizontally,and fastened to the frame at s. The gears in the box-frame work as follows: The gear 3 is fast on the main axle, and alwaysruns with the axle. From this main gear 3 motion is transmitted through the gears 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 to the crank-shaft, and thence to the cutters. The gear 4 can be slid upon its shaft bj a clutch-lever, t, projecting through the box-frame, and there is a clutch or semi-clutch on the hub of the gear 4 that works in connection with asimilar semi-clutch on the hub of the gear 5 that is fast upon its shaft, so that when the gear 4 is slid away from that 5 by the clutchflever, all the gears beyond the one 4 are motionless. When the gear 4 is moved the other Way, motion is transmitted through all of them and to the cutters. A drag-chain, u, runs from the pole M to and connects with the coupling-arm G, and a second drag-chain, fv, may extend from the coupling-arm and be fastened to an arm projecting laterally from the pole. These chains relieve thecoupling-arm of much strain, particularly in turning the machine around.

` Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of the coupling -arm with the hinged supporting-piece F, whereby said coupling-arm can swing with and also roll ,independent of said supporting-piece, as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination of the clutch-plates K Vwith the hubs of their respective wheels, when united thereto by recesses 1 and projections 2, and when said plates form one of the inclosing ends of the spring-pawl and ratchetchambers, as described and represented.

ALLEN SHERWOOD.

Witnesses:

A. B. STOUGHTON, EDMUND MAssoN. 

